


Uncharted Regions Plothole Fixit Fic

by Kelticmoon



Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 8 plothole fixit fics [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura & Keith (Voltron) Friendship, If You Squint - Freeform, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) Friendship, Krolia & Keith (Voltron) being mother-son, M/M, Not Season/Series 08 Compliant, voltron season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 08:00:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17018814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelticmoon/pseuds/Kelticmoon
Summary: The Coalition needs Allura to wake up.  Keith knows how to help.This is Voltron Season 8 fixit fic number one.  Takes place during Uncharted Regions when everyone is waiting for Allura to awaken.  In this, Kolivan goes alone to get the Galra and other Blades and Krolia remains at Keith's side.





	Uncharted Regions Plothole Fixit Fic

“Without Allura, we can’t wormhole…”

“We need Allura…”

Keith grits his teeth in frustration from his spot beside Shiro on the bridge. Suddenly, Keith remembers something.

“I have an idea!” Keith yells as he turns and runs off of the bridge, Krolia and Kosmo not far behind him. They run all the way to med bay. He has no idea if this will even work but he has to try. Without Allura, they don’t stand a chance. They needed Allura and her wormhole ability for this fight.

He reaches med bay where Lance is sitting by Allura’s bedside. Lance stands up in surprise.

“Keith? Krolia? What’s going on?” Lance asks.

"I know how to help Allura..." Keith tells him.

"What? How?" Lance asks.

“When I was in the Quantum Abyss, I saw glimpses of things…” Keith says as he moves to stand on the other side of Allura. “Moments I didn’t understand at the time. Now I do.”

“Keith,” Krolia says, anxiously touching his arm.

“We need her, Mom,” Keith tells her. “I can help her. I know I can.”

"Please do!" Lance pleads tearfully.

“I’ll bring her back to you…” Keith assures him. He places his hands on Allura’s temples before closing his eyes. He focuses on Allura until he feels his mind traveling to the entity inside her.

_~_

_He opens his eyes and he’s in a realm with pink skies and black storm clouds all around them. He sees the entity holding a pink figure, Allura’s soul hostage._

_“Let her go!” he tells it._

_The entity looks at him._

_“The Laws of Alchemy is absolute!” it tells him._

_“What does that mean?” he asks it._

_“Know this, Paladin and know it well…” it tells him. “All powerful magic comes with a price and nothing may be obtained without first giving something in return. To obtain what you seek, for the young Alchemist to live, you must give up something of equal value,” it explains. “The young Alchemist was willing to give up her life for the knowledge to defeat Honerva. What will you give in exchange to save it?”_

_Keith looks at it for a moment._

_~_

Back in Atlas’ med bay, a blinding light emits from Keith and Allura forcing Lance and Krolia to shield their eyes. They don’t see the Rift Creature rise out of Allura’s body and enter Keith’s. When the light fades, Keith stumbles backward into Krolia as Allura opens her eyes.

“Lance?”

“Allura! Oh thank God!” Lance exclaims as he hugs her. Lance looks over at Keith tearfully. “Keith, I don’t know what you just did, but thank you!!”

“There’s not much time…” Keith tells them with a calm smile as Allura stands. “Both of you get to the bridge. The others need you.”

“Come on! There’s no time to lose!” Lance tells her as they run for the bridge.

As they leave the room, Kosmo whines up at Keith as he stumbles and collapses against Krolia.  Krolia holds him and lowers him to the ground.

~After the Battle~ 

“Great job out there everyone!” Shiro tells the people on the bridge as he leaves with Allura and the Paladins following their victory.

“Allura, your timing was impeccable!” Pidge exclaims.

“We would not have been able to if Keith had not acted when he did!” Allura tells them.

“Keith? What’s he got to do with it?” Hunk asks in surprise.

“Keith did something,” Lance tells them excitedly. “He said when he was in the Quantum Abyss, he saw things… moments he didn’t understand at the time. He said he knew how to bring back Allura and he did.”

That’s when Shiro notices the lack of said person.

“Where is Keith?” Shiro asks. “I don’t think he came back with you guys.”

“I have not seen him since we left medbay,” Allura tells him.

 _ **“Captain! We have a situation in the medbay!”**_ they hear over the coms.

A bad feeling settles in the pit of his stomach as Shiro exchanges a look with the others before running toward medbay. Shiro’s bad feeling multiplies when they arrive to find a group of people in Garrison uniforms gathered around the door. They part when they see Shiro and the Paladins coming and the five of them all gasp in horror when they see Keith laying on his back with his head in Krolia’s lap, gripping his chest in pain. Sam immediately shoos the onlookers away as they circle around Keith.Keith cries out in pain, arching his back as he grips his chest. Shiro is immediately at his side.

“Krolia, what happened?” Shiro asks, trying to stay calm and failing.

“I don’t know,” Krolia tells him tearfully. “He’s been like this since right after Lance and Princess Allura left.”

Shiro pulls Keith into his arms, his human arm supporting Keith’s head as Keith opens his eyes weakly when the pain fades momentarily. As he looks up at them as they gathered around him, he’s covered in sweat, his skin has gone virtually ashen, and his eyes are already dull and lifeless.

Allura puts her hand on his chest. She senses darkness and decay emanating from his heart and spreading throughout him. Suddenly images flash in her mind.

She reels back.

“The Rift Creature… It is poisoning his quintessence and draining it at the same time…and it is killing him…” Allura states.

“I thought it was inside you?” Pidge asks her in alarm as Keith cries out in pain again.

“It was…” Allura confirms in confusion.

“How did it get inside Keith?!” Shiro asks as Keith’s pants when the pain ends.

“I invited it…” Keith grunts, pain etched into his face.

“What?!” they exclaim.

“How?! Why?!” Hunk asks in alarm.

“Don’t… know ‘how’… didn’t… even know… had to try…” Keith explains. “Only way… we needed her…” Keith's cut off by another wave of pain spiking through his chest.

“What do you mean 'only way'?” Krolia asks him emotionally when it fades.

“All powerful magic… comes with a price…" Keith explains softly. He takes a breath as he turns to Allura. "To gain the knowledge… of how to defeat Honerva… you made a deal… that was… why you wouldn’t… wake up…”

“Allura, is this true?!” Lance asks her in alarm as another spasm of pain hits Keith.

“Yes.” Allura admits tearfully after a moment. “In order for the creature to leave this plain of existence, its vessel must die. It only wanted to go home, so I offered it my life in exchange for the knowledge to defeat Honerva.”

“Why did you even have to make that offer?!” Lance asks emotionally.

"We're at war Lance," Allura reminds him. "A war that must end..."

"At what cost!?" Lance asks her emotionally. "Yeah we got the information we needed to stop her, but why did you have to sacrifice your life for it!"

“The Law of Equivalent Exchange…” Keith groans out when the pain recedes again.

“The what?” Hunk asks tearfully.

“It’s the first law of alchemy…” Sam adds from his spot beside Pidge, having been silent in the room the entire time. “Nothing can be obtained without first giving up something of equal value to it.”

“I made a counteroffer… to save her life...” Keith says before another spasm of pain cuts him off again.

“No…” Shiro whispers.

“What did you exchange?” Pidge asks him tearfully, even though the answer is obvious.

“Allura’s life… for mine…” Keith says weakly as the pain fades.

“No!” Shiro says, as tears begin to roll down his cheeks. “Keith why?! We need you! You’re the Black Paladin!”

“The Black Paladin... is replaceable..." Keith whispers.

Shiro swears he feels his heart stop as he takes a sudden sharp intake of air through his nose at this.

“You need Allura more…” Keith continues. "Without her… there are no wormholes... without her, there is no Voltron…without both of those... the universe will die...”

Trembling, Shiro looks at Allura desperately.

“There must be something you can do?”

“I wish there were,” Allura states as tears roll freely down her own face. “If it were his body that were dying I could use his quintessence to freeze the progression, but it is not. It is his very life force that is being corrupted and drained away. As it stands, it has progressed too far for me to even cleanse it.”

“NO!” Shiro cries, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as hot tears roll down his face. “Please no!” He feels a light touch on the side of his face and leans into the touch as he places his hand over it without opening his eyes.

“Shiro…” Keith breathes tiredly. Shiro opens his tear-filled, gray eyes to look down into Keith’s dull purple eyes. The look of pure love and adoration Keith gives him makes it hurt more.

“Keith…” he sobs.

“It’s… going to be ok…” Keith breathes.

"Don't go..." Shiro pleads desperately, though he knows it's in vain.  He wraps his prosthetic hand around Keith’s hand as Keith rests his head tiredly against Shiro.

“Thank you… for not giving up on me...” Keith trails off as his body grows too weak to even speak. He turns his head into Shiro as his eyes slide shut and his hand goes limp in Shiro’s. His chest stills, the Rift Creature leaving his body when it does.

“Keith?” Shiro whispers numbly as he looks down at the man in his arms. “Keith?!”

“This can’t be happening…” Lance mutters tearfully.

In his peripheral, Shiro can see Allura bury her face into Lance’s shoulder as he hugs her to him, Keith’s last gift to Lance. He can see Sam with his arms around both Pidge and Hunk as they cry. He can hear Kosmo whine as he nuzzles Krolia sitting beside him with silent tears rolling down her face.

Shiro breaks.

“No… NO!” he cries as he wraps his arms around Keith’s lifeless body and holds it close. “Not again! Please not again! You’re all I have left, Keith! I need you!” Shiro buries his face into Keith’s shoulder as sobs wrack his body. "The Black Paladin might be replaceable but you aren't!" This can’t be happening again! It can’t be! First Adam and now Keith?!  What more can this war take from him?!

He rests his forehead against Keith’s, his tears falling onto Keith’s face as memories of Keith flash in his mind; the day he met Keith, Keith and him racing bikes in the desert, him and Keith at the Kerberos launch, Keith standing beside him outside Keith’s shack, Keith supporting him throughout his time as the Black Paladin, Keith saving him time and again. He sees the ball of light rising up and disappearing into the sky from the bridge of the Atlas, sees the explosion followed by the streak of purple falling from the sky, sees himself running to the Black Lion laying with her jaw open, sees himself gently pulling Keith from the pilot seat when he sees Keith’s in cardiac arrest, using his Altean hand as a defibrillator over and over again, remembers the tears of desperation rolling down his face until his hand finally... _**finally**_ restarts Keith’s heart…

Wait a minute…

Shiro opens his eyes then and looks at his prosthetic hand.

“That’s it…” Shiro says.

"What's it?" Pidge asks him through her tears.  He quickly adjusts himself so he can lay Keith’s head across his lap before powering down his right arm. “Shiro? What are you doing?” Pidge asks.

“I can save him…” he says resolutely as he picks up his right arm with his left hand and struggles for a bit on where to lay it. Krolia silently holds it for him as he tries to open where the power source is held. “The diamond in my prosthetic… it’s saved him before… it can do it again...”

Krolia's look of shock morphs into an approving smile.

“But the deal,” Hunk points out.

“The Rift Creature already left Keith’s body!” Shiro counters as he finally gets it open. “Keith fulfilled his part of the deal!”

“Shiro, you would need all the quintessence held in the diamond,” Allura tells him. “It would cease to exist.”

“Keith said "All powerful magic comes at a price and only something of equal value can be traded in exchange", right?” Shiro says as he pulls out said diamond.

“You wouldn’t just be giving up your hand, Shiro,” Sam points out to him. “You’d lose the Atlas. You'd lose your ability to transform her.”

“I don’t care.” Shiro states resolutely as he holds the diamond in front of his face. “Keith was willing to sacrifice everything he had to bring me back. I can do no less for him. He’s all I have left. I can’t lose him.”

The diamond emits a glow as Shiro moves it closer to Keith’s chest.

“Save him…” Shiro asks it. “Please.”

A white light fills the room as the diamond dissolves into Keith. He glows with the light of pure quintessence. Seconds later, Keith’s eyes glow when he opens them as he takes in a deep gasp for air. When the light fades, his eyes go back to their normal purple and his black bangs are streaked white from the exposure. Somewhere in the Atlas’, the roar of the Lions can be heard throughout the ship.

Keith takes several more gasps of air as Shiro holds Keith’s head in his lap. Shiro swears he’s never heard a more beautiful sound. Keith opens his eyes once more and recognition shines clear in his eyes as they focus in on Shiro.

“Shiro… you saved me…” Keith whispers to him.

“Just returning the favor…” Shiro tells him affectionately before pulling him into a one armed hug.

Keith spots Krolia as Shiro helps him sit up. “Mom…” Keith says as Krolia pulls him into a tight hug.

“I’m so happy you’re alive…” Krolia tells him through tears of happiness. Krolia gives Shiro an appreciative look over Keith’s shoulder.

“Keith!” Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Allura exclaim as they all hug Keith at once when he turns around.

That’s when Keith notices Shiro’s deactivated arm.

“Shiro, your arm…” he says as he disengages himself from the Paladinpile to move closer to Shiro to look at Shiro’s deactivated shoulder.

“Shiro used its power source to restore and cleanse your quintessence,” Allura explains as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

Keith looks up into Shiro’s eyes.

“You gave up your arm for me?” Keith asks him.

“And his ability to transform the Atlas…” Sam informs him.

“Why?” Keith breathes with his hand on Shiro’s shoulder port. “Why would you give that up for me?”

Shiro covers Keith’s hand on his shoulder with his own and gives it a squeeze.

“I love you, Keith,” Shiro tells him.

Keith throws his arms around Shiro’s neck and hugs him. Shiro wraps his left arm around Keith and hugs him back fiercely.

**Author's Note:**

> Borrowed the cardinal rule of magic from Once Upon a Time (All powerful magic comes at a price) and the Law of Equivalent Exchange from Fullmetal Alchemist (Nothing can be obtained without first sacrificing something of equal value). 
> 
> As a personal critique, as a writer:  
> YOU SEE DREAMWORKS!!! YOU SEE HOW EASY THIS WAS?! THAT WAS ALL YOU HAD TO DO TO THIS EPISODE TO PUT KEITH’S QUINTESSENCE ABILITIES INTO THIS SEASON AS WELL AS GIVe US AN AVENUE TO TALK ABOUT KEITH’S SELF-SACRIFICING STREAK! AND YEAH, IT LEAVES ANOTHER PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED IN TWO EPISODES BUT IT WOULD HAVE GIVEN MORE DEPTH (besides, this season’s story arc should have been two seasons and the last episode should have been an hour long like the first one was, but I digress). AND LOOK, THE SHEITH PART IS EVEN AMBIGUOUS SO IT CAN BE TAKEN AS EITHER PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC!


End file.
